Pros and Con(vention)s of Friendship
by MagicalGoofballNinja
Summary: One summer break is all it takes to forge new friendships and start new rivalries. One invitation is all it takes to change the lives of a group of girls forever. One vacation is all it takes to make them question the sanity level of a certain hyperactive goofball...some "friends", huh? Let the Convention weekend misadventures begin! (Also posted on AO3, under the same username)
1. Chapter 1

Hi hi, party peoples! Robin, aka Tama here! Some may know me as that red panda kid that is a self-proclaimed Akko-type, and this story was originally posted to a different fanfiction website, so please dont accuse me of stealing this story...its mine...

This is my first time using so hopefully I can figure out the format and anyone that knows me has heard me state this is my first attempt at writing fanfics. Not much else left to say, but I hope you enjoy this wild ride with me and I am learning as I go, without a beta reader...so yeah.

Welcome to my passion project about Akko & co at a Convention! Ready or not, here we go..!

* * *

It all started with an unexpected invitation from Amanda to spend a couple weeks at her giant house over the summer break following the first year of college. Nobody could have predicted what it was bound to ultimately lead to, but if they had, perhaps they would have fought Akko a little harder on her excited, loud (and immediate) approval of the idea. The poor birds surrounding the cafe that day should have been given a proper warning, because goodness only knows how frightened they were...

_"Why not just join me at my house? It might be fun having you there, and it would sure beat just sitting around and waiting for my family to come back from their business trip overseas."_

That had been what Amanda proposed after seeing that Akko, her new college buddy for the last year, refused to calm down and stop moping about being separated from her own best friends since high school. Sucy and Lotte had expressed an interest in returning to their own families for at least part of the break. Although Akko and the others were exhausted from the intense finals, and were very eager to enjoy themselves before the next semester started, she was rather vocal about not being alone for the summer (if her whines and sad kicked puppy pout were any indication).

And so, a few days of preparation and hasty packing later, the four girls found themselves at the airport waiting to board an airplane that would take them back to Amanda's hometown. Akko especially had been interested in knowing why the fiery redhead had chosen to attend a college a few states away, but whatever grand explanation she had been expecting was quickly dashed as short lived dark shadow passed over her friend's face, accompanied by a shrug and a cryptic comment of the existence of "too much family drama". Amanda refused to comment further, and so Akko eventually dropped it with the help of Lotte grabbing her shoulder and shaking her head slowly, as if to wordlessly signal that the timing was not yet right.

Presently, the group had just found their gate and were sitting down with a small moment of silence between them as they set down their bags and relaxed. At Amanda's insistence, they had arrived early enough to make it through the 'special version of hell' more commonly known as airport check-in and security. It really was an experience that she never looked forward to and it always took ages to complete. It was made infinitely less fun for her, because this was one place that she couldn't simply charm her way to a better spot in line, or get past security with a wink and a smile. (Mostly it worked elsewhere, but Lotte had informed her that it might make people uncomfortable and could, in fact, be seen as flirting...Amanda pretended that she couldn't hear Lotte that day)

Amanda was no fool, nor did she feel the need to get escorted outside of the building, or banned from the one airport nearby, so she was able to keep herself in check for at least a few minutes. But she quickly grew bored as she looked around the surrounding area, full of people rushing around or messing with their personal mobile phones or sleeping right before a long trip. A (nearly predatory) smile appeared on her face however, as she spotted a seemingly easy target for her personal game (which only made sense to her as she made up the rules as she went), and could prove to be an interesting challenge as well as stress relief.

Akko, of course, was the first to notice her stand up, since Lotte already had her nose buried deep inside the next Nightfall novel (it was her third time rereading the series from start to finish) and Sucy was seemingly zoned out with a glassy-eyed gaze fixed on the far wall. She could have also been sleeping with her eyes open, but no one dared to question it...she had her own set of quirks, most of them beyond the realm of human understanding.

(The excitable brunette often wondered in the beginning how anyone could love mushrooms _that_ much, but had long since stopped asking. Her pale friend pointed out that it was similar to her own umeboshi obsession. That, and Sucy had threatened to somehow make all of her future purchases taste like mushrooms instead if she dared to bring it up in public. Despite not knowing if such a thing were possible or how it would be accomplished, simply the fact that it was Sucy that said it made Akko too scared to ever find out. She agreed and had been careful not to bring attention to it again.)

After looking up questioningly from her phone, which had a video of animated cats playing instruments to a severely underappreciated witch-themed anime song, she saw that Amanda was getting ready to walk somewhere and was about to question it when she got a silent reply in the form of Amanda gesturing with her thumb across the hallway at the barista of a franchised coffee shop and winking. Akko, who had since learned of Amanda's rather unbelievable and unwavering flirty ways, looked back down at her phone. She knew she couldn't stop it from happening, and simply shook her head with a small smile, only muttering a comment that sounded suspiciously like 'don't get slapped this time'.

Amanda snorted but chose not to reply to that jab and the reminder of that time in the school library. It wasn't her greatest moment, she admitted, but that was the only time she would let someone else, much less a crimson eyed, hyperactive brunette, choose her pickup lines. Akko had already gone on to a different video anyway, and was trying to contain her laughter at different animal memes...something about a rabbit and a pancake? Mentally shaking herself, Amanda turned around and walked over to the line for the coffee shop, already debating on how to win the pretty girl over (and possibly get a number, as well as a discount on her coffee. She may have been a college student, but that didn't mean she enjoyed paying full price for overpriced, burnt bean water).

And what sort of mascot was that anyway? It looked like a roughly scribbled fusion between a tree woman and a mermaid that was designed by a small child. Someone must have been a proud parent the day that they heard this particular chain of stores would use that specific artwork, but Amanda was not great at being an art critic. She was well aware of the fact that her interests lie in a different field.

After staring at the odd choice for a mascot for a moment, it was beginning to make her nervous. She got a strange feeling, almost like she had seen it before, sometime in the past but couldn't quite place the memory. And why did she suddenly crave a donut?

Shaking herself mentally, she forced herself to look away from the dimly lit neon sign. It must have been her nerves about what this trip would mean (and Akko still didn't have a clue about the true reason behind the sudden invitation). Amanda took a quick glance at the counter and noticed that she was up next. Perfect, hopefully getting the cute barista's number would help her have something to look forward to when the trip was over. Smiling to herself, she decided it was a good idea to use her natural charm and gain a date in the process.

A few minutes passed by and Amanda stormed back to her seat next to Akko, sitting down with a huff. Lotte, as angelic and understanding as ever, bookmarked her place in the book and looked up across the aisle to give Amanda her full attention. With a hesitant smile, she spoke in a small and comforting voice.

"What happened this time?"

Amanda growled softly, and ground her teeth for a moment. She was embarrassed, and although not keen on reliving it so soon, knew that bottling it up inside wouldn't do her any good. Just as she was about to reply, Sucy jumped in with a monotone but clearly amused guess.

"I bet she was actually straight and didn't enjoy Amanda's flirting attempts so she charged our rebel twice as much for that coffee."

Amanda's jaw dropped and she looked like her brain had broken. Sucy cackled with a shark-toothed smile and Lotte sent her a warning glare that spoke volumes more than her words ever would. Sucy gradually stopped and took a breath before grabbing a cookbook centered around mushrooms and pretended to be eyeing a specific recipe like it was the most interesting idea she had ever seen. Lotte turned back and smiled in a supportive way, but Amanda seemed to have restarted her brain and finally replied.

"I'm not saying that it's true, but if it were, _hypothetically_ ...how would you know that? You weren't even watching!"

Sucy blinked, offering a barely noticeable shrug and muttered under her breath, "It was obvious."

Akko had finally put away her headphones and had locked her phone, but was late to the party and blinked.

"Uh...Amanda, why do you look like you're ready to murder Sucy..?"

Amanda tried to calm down, and huffed in annoyance. She sat back in her chair, muttered under her breath and glared at a nearby empty chair on Lotte's other side.

"It's nothing to worry about, Akko." Lotte said, sighing, because of course it was up to her to explain it even slightly. That seemed to be the usual pattern that they followed. Lotte had long since resigned herself to having the role of their group's Mom-Friend.

Akko stared for a few more seconds but seemed to pick up on the fact that no further information would be provided. So instead, she finished packing up her stuff, just in time for the person behind the counter to begin the boarding announcement. They would be in the second group, so the girls got ready and double checked that they all had their tickets (Akko made sure to flash hers in their direction because she didn't want them to worry and she knew they would all have asked if she hadn't. But it really wasn't her fault that she misplaced important items sometimes…)

With that done, the four girls stood up, grabbed their bags and walked around their row of chairs to join other passengers at the end of the line.


	2. Gates to the Underworld

After boarding, finding their seats and getting settled, the girls simply needed to wait for the other passengers to do the same and for the flight crew to be ready for takeoff. Akko, who had immediately claimed dibs on the window seat when she noticed one was available online at checkout, was excited to be making progress towards the end goal. She was restless, but Amanda had grown used to her energy and had offered to be the one in the seat next to her.

Across the aisle, Lotte and Sucy were sitting together, along with an older businessman that had already shut the window cover and was trying to sleep, with the aid of what was clearly his wife's eye mask. Sucy frowned disapprovingly once Lotte gestured for her to put down her experimental vial of powder, instead of "accidentally" spilling it on to him, and she reluctantly put the cap back on and slipped it inside her jacket pocket. He would have been such an easy target too. The effects of said powder, along with how Lotte knew about it, were mysteries of the universe, as well as how she managed to get it past airport security. Even Akko would know better than to ask, however, and most people tend to view her as an idiot, so it might be better left unsaid.

Lotte happily went back to reading her book while Sucy grabbed a stick of what appeared to be regular chewing gum, which is known to help with maintaining equilibrium during flights, and leaned forward to tempt Akko with it. To her credit, Sucy looked calm on the outside, and as monotone and expressionless as usual, but at least a few of her inner identities cackled in anticipation in the hopes of at least one successful experiment being done that day.

"Oi, Akko. You want some gum?"

Akko turned away from the window with a smile and didn't pause to consider that Sucy may have been up to her old tricks again. She nodded enthusiastically and sent Amanda a quick look to silently request help in receiving the stick of gum, to which Amanda rolled her eyes and held out a hand to Lotte, thinking she would also go along with the silly assembly line they appeared to have going now. Lotte, however, had other plans. Without looking up from her book, she made a point that both surprised Akko, and greatly annoyed Sucy.

"Akko, check your backpack's side pocket. You bought some yesterday, didn't you?"

"Oh, that's right! Thank you, Lotte!" Akko said, digging through her backpack and pulling out a rather normal looking package full of sugarless gum sticks. It was black with a green 5 on the front and smelled strongly of mint once she pulled off the surrounding plastic and finally freed a piece.

Quickly undoing the wrapper and popping it into her mouth, she was blissfully unaware of what else took place in the same span of time. Sucy glared at Lotte, the same inner identities had either groaned or sighed in defeat before disbanding, Lotte ignored it and was instead smiling to herself over what was happening in the current chapter of her novel (she had forgotten about that event!) and so Sucy sat back in her seat, but was definitely not sulking over how little fun she was having.

As for Amanda, she had shrugged and was keeping an eye on the front of the plane, waiting to see what the flight attendant that demonstrated proper procedures for safety in the event of a crash would look like. She may have heard the same speech before, and really, it was the same every single time, but this was Amanda and she was as bad as a perverted old man sometimes. For maybe two minutes, two blissful minutes, she would give the flight attendant her undivided attention, although no one needed or wanted to know what she was really thinking. It was just Amanda being Amanda, and this was one of her quirks.

Although today, Lady Luck must have been feeling spiteful towards her because it was an older lady, outside her target range and after grimacing, she lost interest. She had heard it all before and so tried to quietly engage Akko in a conversation as soon as it started a moment later, but Akko was surprisingly interested in hearing what was being said and shushed her so she could hear better. Amanda just stared at her like Akko was the crazy one and not herself, but Akko was determined to hear all about it, so she simply sighed softly and waited for the demonstration to end.

The flight itself was only a couple hours long but it could seemingly drag on for ages if there was nothing to do, so after the attendants were ready and the plane had made it to the correct area of the runway, Amanda poked Akko's shoulder to get her attention away from the window.

"Lean back in your seat, you'll like what happens next."

Although she looked a bit confused - because she had been on airplanes a couple times before, and was used to leaning over and watching through the window the whole time they were taking off - she trusted her friend. So, with a hesitant smile, the brunette bouncy ball-in-human-form sat back in her seat and rested her arms on the armrests as the engines roared to life. A moment later, they were racing down the runway and quickly ascending, leaving the ground and everything else behind them.

Akko wasn't sure, after the whole thing happened, quite how to explain the feeling of her new experience. As the plane gradually and steadily gained altitude and distance, and they went above the clouds, she felt a sort of calmness wash over her. Her whole body, especially her upper body, had been pulled back into the seat behind her and although it lasted no more than a few short minutes, if that, it was a vastly different experience than she was used to. It was fun, in a way, and she started giggling to herself as a way of releasing the pure joy bubbling up from within her chest. Turning to her left, Amanda was smirking and looking at her from the side, giving off a mildly smug sense of having known what would happen.

Akko couldn't contain her wonder, and grinned.

"What was that? It was kinda like...the climb on a roller coaster as you reach the top, but without the drop afterwards. I'm not sure, was that right? That wouldn't make sense, what kind of roller coaster only goes up? It would be pretty lame, if you think about it. But then again, my favorite ride is actually the Gravi-"

Amanda, to her credit, managed to stay relatively calm during the newest rambling session and Akko stopped talking as a hand landed on her shoulder.

"That's great, dude, but slow down and remember to breathe in between sentences. You don't need to pass out again, right?"

Sucy must have been listening in on their conversation, because a snort came from across the aisle, but Akko either ignored it or didn't hear it as she quickly grew defensive.

"Hey, that was just the one time! And that kid started it, he shouldn't have been talking badly about the animation industry or all of the hard work that everyone puts into the shows they make! He needs to do his own research and also-"

"Akko, please. Amanda has a good point, and she did just remind you to take it easy…"

This time it was Lotte that interrupted what was bound to be another one of Akko's rant sessions. She could get rather passionate and go on about the things that bothered her for hours if people let her (a guess, because she was usually distracted well before that point was reached), but this time it was because she was getting rather loud and had forgotten where she was and that she was in an enclosed space surrounded by a lot of other people and her voice tended to carry and sound louder as it bounced off the walls of the plane.

Akko inhaled and let out an annoyed sigh, but she took a few deep breaths to make her friends feel better and to humor them. Still, she needed to finish her last point at the very least.

"He insulted my favorite VA as well…" she muttered angrily.

Lotte looked a bit concerned that Akko would start up again, and failed to keep the pale-skinned fungus fanatic in check, because a beat passed and Sucy couldn't help herself.

"Yes, we're all well aware about your crush on Du Nord. But please, feel free to talk about her for the 20th time, it can be our in flight entertainment."

Akko scoffed and then glared daggers at Sucy.

"I do **_not _**have a crush on Chariot!"

Sucy snickered with a shark tooth grin.

"Sure you don't. Then explain why she's the only one you find any possible excuse to rant about. And why you **really** keep her poster on the wall above your bed."

Akko stuttered and blushed rather heavily at that but seemed to be struggling with forming a convincing yet non-confrontational reply so she turned away and angrily pouted at her reflection in the window. Sucy counted it as a personal victory and Lotte had spent the entire exchange looking worried and would have intervened if she thought it would help. It was exhausting work to be the peacekeeper sometimes, and these exchanges occasionally came close to giving her whiplash. After it was over, she gave Sucy a stern reprimanding, which left Amanda to comfort and cheer up Akko. Amanda had silently watched the exchange, but seemed to be the best choice for distracting Akko for now.

"So, have you ever been to Texas before?"

All it took was a simple, unrelated question to distract her friend from her own stormy thoughts. Amanda had a laid back conversation about the area she was from, being careful to avoid giving out too many details of her past or her family, and answered some questions if she deemed them nonintrusive. The rest of the flight passed by quickly after that.

* * *

Akko went through a couple more pieces of gum, her energy proving to be too much for such a long time being forced into sitting still. At the middle point of their flight, a couple members of the crew passed out drinks and pretzels, which Akko happily munched on as Amanda sat there, occasionally commenting on fellow passengers. She mainly tried to guess at who they were and why they had to travel to her home state, even temporarily.

Lotte had, in her exhausted state, fallen asleep with her head resting on Sucy's shoulder. The latter's cheeks turned slightly darker and she glared at the other two, sending a silent promise of unspeakable nightmares if they dared to mention this afterwards. Amanda didn't care enough to bring it up again, but Akko smiled rather smugly and was about to comment when the kid in front of her suddenly reclined his seat too far and she had to deal with that. Amanda was on standby in case Akko got too worked up and tried to punch the kid, seeing as how he just obnoxiously laughed at her instead of apologizing. The mother had conveniently, for him, rushed to the lavatory at the back of the plane and wasn't there to scold him.

Glancing down at the sleeping and softly snoring girl resting against her, Sucy's face softened for only a moment. She would have argued against anyone else doing this, no matter how accidental it may have been (and if it were Akko, she would have thrown her harshly in the other direction). But for some reason, the quiet, caring bookworm had a different effect on her and she couldn't bring herself to do anything other than shift carefully so that the weight was more comfortable and stay as still as possible. But then she forced her face to go back to its default, unimpressed, blank stare for the remainder of the flight. She was actually thinking up more ways to get revenge on Akko, because as much as she cared for the rowdy brunette (although she would never admit it outloud unless she was certain she was on her deathbed with no chance of survival), she didn't completely trust the other to keep this moment a secret for long. Hence, why she needed some plan in case Akko forgot the unspoken agreement they had made.

Once the plane had safely landed some time later, and was waiting at the gate with everyone around them getting ready to exit, Sucy decided that she should wake the small redhead up. Especially before Akko could turn on her phone and snap a quick picture as evidence. Akko would be needing to purchase a brand new phone if that happened. Frowning slightly at the thought, she reached over and gently shook Lotte to wake her up. After a couple tries, Lotte slowly opened her eyes and blinked dazedly at her surroundings before realizing that she must have dozed off at some point. Sitting up, she yawned and stretched an arm above her head, before reality sunk in and she froze. She dozed off during a slower portion of her book and had been...leaning…

Dropping her arm to her lap and screwing her eyes shut tightly, she immediately started thinking up a quick apology to her best friend and was about to verbally make it known when Sucy shrugged (ignoring the numbness in her shoulder as best she could) and muttered something that shocked Lotte to her core.

"You looked exhausted. Don't make it into a big deal, okay?"

Lotte, who had been expecting a much worse reaction, opened her eyes and studied her friend for a moment. Sucy must have been uncomfortable with the sudden attention, because she refused to look over at the group's cinnamon roll, instead opting to growl softly before adding onto her earlier statement.

"What did I just say?"

Lotte giggled softly before returning her book back to her bag and leaving Sucy to wonder what just happened. Then the man next to her, who had apparently woken up at the arrival announcement, was huffing in an irritated manner, and cleared his throat loudly to grab her attention.

"Would you girls move? _Some _of us actually have important jobs to return to, and time is money."

Sucy glared at him and made sure to take more time than needed, if only to be spiteful. It wasn't her fault he had been assigned to a window seat on a packed airplane. But then, a moment of inspiration hit. Smiling to herself, she exited the plane and slipped the small vial of powder into the pocket of his business suit as he brushed past her. It was just a little revenge that lifted her spirits.

(So when he tried a week later to go on another business trip, he had no clue why he was suddenly asked by airport security to follow them away from the line and into their office. He claimed not to have any knowledge of what appeared to be powdered and _highly illegal _drugs in a bottle or where they came from, but his other mistake was to celebrate his new promotion at his company by drinking heavily the night before.

(He had also dragged his wife and his son into the festivities, despite his son having become an adult that had sworn off alcohol after he realized what it had done to make his childhood so difficult. He had lost a sister due to his father's poor attitude, work ethic, and abuse of power and straight up negligence.)

That flight was to meet the higher ups and to thank them for the opportunity to be someone just underneath their level, but he was still hungover and actually cussed security out for wrongly accusing him of attempting to smuggle drugs onto a plane. The guards exchanged a look and tackled him to the ground to await the police. He spent that night in the holding cell at the local police station and found out via an email that he was fired for failing to keep an appointment.

Also because someone had started a rumor about him stealing from the company and they believed it, due to his normally sketchy and confrontational attitude towards his coworkers and those working under him. He clearly hadn't learned his lesson from the days long since passed as a shady used car salesman. It may have been acceptable back then when he had fewer people to professionally work with, but times change and old guys like him need to fix their old timey traditional and male-dominated outlooks and mentalities to keep up.

He wasn't a rich politician or truly above the law, no matter what he told himself in the morning...which is likely good for the rest of the residents in his neighborhood because his wife definitely would throw a fit that night. And he didn't have the brains or the resources to hire a lawyer so he deserves his fate. Maybe he should have remembered not to wear such a tight hat, his ego made his head swell up and it was worse than any form of glue…

But really, it ultimately goes to show three important things. One, that the universe works in mysterious ways. Two, Karma herself is a prankster at heart. And three? That people should really learn to check their pockets more often. Such things could be easily avoided, but people being forgetful and oblivious is how Sucy entertains herself, which is why she won't ever reveal _that _secret)

Akko and Amanda had been lagging behind due to how worried the former was about losing something important on the airplane, so they spent a few minutes longer searching the space surrounding her area before it turned out to be resting on the aisle seat in front of Amanda. When that brat could have swiped it wasn't something that could be easily answered, but it had apparently been left behind for her, and Akko was a little too emotional about a cell phone charm, but that was just her typical self.

After entering the main area of the terminal and failing to locate the other pair anywhere, Amanda poked the unofficial group leader's arm and pointed down the busy hallway.

"C'mon, I bet they just followed the signs for baggage claim and went on ahead of us. We should probably head there as well, its a bad idea to leave belongings unsupervised in places like this. Otherwise, your stuff has a tendency to go...missing."

The shorter girl nodded, and smiled knowingly. She wisely chose to ignore her gut instinct to question if the American was speaking from personal experience as the victim...or the thief. Amanda may be sneaky and sticky-fingered, but she seemed to have a fairly poor opinion of those that would be greedy enough to steal and pawn off valuable items. As much as she claimed to be practicing in preparation for receiving an offer for the position of becoming a spy or secret agent, she wasn't evil. She might give off an attitude of not caring about other people's property and technicalities, Akko suspected there was more to it than that. Amanda always made sure that whatever she swiped mysteriously showed up again a few days later, in the same condition it had been taken in.

She was a practical joker at heart and had met the others during the low point in her life (she had let her guard down and Akko somehow successfully snuck up on her as she was trying to silently spy on her most recent target) but only time would tell when she finally opened up about herself and her past. With a fleeting thought of wishing to someday know the truth, dismissed with the reminder of needing to hurry and catch up to the others.

Not that Sucy was a belonging, but it was a bad idea to leave her unsupervised for long as well. And although she was less destructive when unattended than someone like Akko, she was also far more dangerous. And despite the fact that Lotte was with her, there were times when not even the sweet, kindhearted angel could stop her from causing mischief. She may have been best friends with the normally grumpy girl but Sucy had her own set of rules and logic, which seemed to include a need to occasionally cause a mass panic that she would laugh off as if it were a giant joke to her.

Thankfully, it seemed as if being exposed to Lotte's calming presence was positively influencing her by taming her destructive tendencies and slowly melting the ice around her heart. That was all a guess of course, but it was one that no one dared to bring attention to, for fear of setting Sucy off. Or Lotte, because although it was scary enough seeing her cry (like that one time her parents got sick and needed a doctor that took far too long to reach them in the beginning), no one wanted to see how bad it would be if she ever truly lost her temper. The world may not survive that one.

With a sense of urgency, and overall excitement adding a slight spring to her step, Akko raced towards the area set aside for passengers to collect their luggage. She was glad to be at the halfway point of this first day's journey and finally being able to see the mysterious house that was the foundation of her unexpected but very welcomed summer vacation invitation was getting her fired up again. She had wondered so many times over the past few days what it might look like, but a house is a house no matter how you decorate it. Thus, the normally dense and oblivious animation fanatic forgot to take into account a crucial detail - no matter what the house looked like, it was also true that the neighbors could really change your perspective on whether or not it's worth staying there...


End file.
